Chipmakers are enjoying an unprecedented increase in demand for high-bandwidth memory, which is essential for AI accelerators.
issued Tuesday, July 7, 2026 · 07:34 AM
[SEOUL] Samsung Electronics’ quarterly profit soared 19 times, exceeding expectations on a surge in demand for memory chips needed for artificial intelligence data centers.
The world’s largest memory maker reported preliminary operating profit of 89.4 trillion won ($58 billion) for the three months to June, which dwarfed its full-year 2025 results. Analysts’ average forecast was 84.2 trillion won. Sales came in at 171 trillion won, compared to the average forecast of 169.2 trillion won.
Samsung is expected to release full financial statements, including net profit and divisional breakdown, towards the end of this month.
Executives including Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang and OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap said the shortage of memory chips remains a major bottleneck in AI development.
Manufacturers are prioritizing the development of high-end memory to meet data center needs, leading to capacity shortages in traditional memory as well.
Analysts expect the shortage to last until at least 2027, giving Samsung and rivals SK Hynix and Micron Technology significant pricing power.
According to HSBC, the average selling price of DRAM in the April-June period rose more than 40% compared to the previous three months, and NAND prices rose more than 50%.
Samsung’s performance has been closely watched as investors try to gauge how long AI-related skyrocketing spending and valuations will last.
Global semiconductor stocks soared to record levels earlier this year, but have been roiled by concerns about increased competition, potential overcapacity and whether hundreds of billions of dollars in investment plans will pan out.
Samsung’s stock price, which has a broad portfolio of chips and consumer electronics products, has underperformed that of out-of-town rival SK Hynix, which focuses on high-end memory tailored to AI’s computing needs. Samsung’s stock price, hit by a sharp decline in the five days ending Friday, has risen 165% since the beginning of the year, while SK Hynix’s stock price has risen about 260%.
The two chipmakers are at the heart of South Korea’s ambitions to take leadership in AI ahead of other countries. Samsung Group and SK Group plan to spend a total of 800 trillion won to build two semiconductor manufacturing factories each in southwestern South Korea in order to quickly expand production capacity. The country aims to double its memory production capacity within five years.
Samsung has announced plans to invest more than $70 billion in production capacity expansion and research into 2026.
Chipmakers are experiencing unprecedented demand for high-bandwidth memory, which is essential for AI accelerators. But the shift in production has exacerbated a historic shortage of the traditional memory chips found in most modern devices, squeezing profits and driving up prices. bloomberg
